Steve Israel: Time for love, light no matter the holiday

Soon after we were married, my wife wanted to decorate our home for Christmas — just like she and her family decorated their homes all of her life.

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By Steve Israel

recordonline.com

By Steve Israel

Posted Dec. 23, 2011 at 2:00 AM

By Steve Israel
Posted Dec. 23, 2011 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Soon after we were married, my wife wanted to decorate our home for Christmas — just like she and her family decorated their homes all of her life.

This was something that I, a Jew, never did growing up in Bayonne, N.J. My family didn't celebrate Christmas, so I never felt what Christmas meant to a Christian like my wife.

Eileen explained just how immense the holiday was for her as a child in New Jersey.

She and her sister Mary — who shared a room — would wait up on pins and needles as long as their eyes could stay open to see Santa arrive on his sled — something they somehow never managed to do. They would run down to the tree in the morning to find presents with Santa's handwritten notes — in neat script that amazingly looked just like their mother's.

I got what Christmas meant to her. I still smile as I picture her as a little girl looking out the window for Santa. But I really couldn't light up with the tingling magic that the holiday season evoked in her. It was something I never felt.

Still, just about every Christmas season, I grabbed my saw and we headed to the woods behind our home to cut down a Christmas tree. Then Eileen decorated it with lights. And we gave each other gifts to celebrate the love we felt for each other all year long.

When Hanukkah arrived, Eileen made sure we put out our menorah. She even asked me to say the blessings as I lit the candles. She wondered what Hanukkah meant to me in my family growing up, and I explained that even though we exchanged gifts, it didn't mean nearly as much to me as Christmas meant to her. I never felt that tingly magic inside that she felt at Christmas. Without getting too theological, it's safe to say Hanukkah isn't as important to Jews as Christmas is to Christians.

But as our love grew over the years and we cut down trees, put up lights and lit our menorah, something changed. Christmastime — if not the day itself — became our holiday.

I could never feel what Eileen felt as a child at Christmas, but I began to feel a special sort of tingle this time of year.

In these gloomy, short days of too much darkness and divisiveness, Christmas and Hanukkah, which coincide on the calendar this year, are holidays of light and love.

Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of light over darkness — when a tiny band of ancient Jews defeated a godless army of invaders, and the little bit of holy oil in the Temple they reclaimed burned eight days instead of just one.

Christmas also celebrates the miracle of light — when, some 2,000 years ago, Christ was born to illuminate the world with his ultimate goodness.

Many of us are celebrating different holidays this week. But whether we light a menorah with candles, or string sparkly lights on a tree, we can all share the most precious gift of all — the gift of light that illuminates our lives with love for our family and friends.